Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 85

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 85. Level 99
Yi Hyeok-su reflected.
‘The world is full of terrible monsters.’
From childhood, he’d grown accustomed to fighting, and he’d always believed himself reasonably talented with a blade.
But meeting the mysterious Mage Ataraxia, the Seer, and Han Shin had shifted something in him.
‘I’m nothing at all.’
There might be absurdly many beings in this world far greater than himself.
Unless he hardened himself further and honed his skills to razor sharpness, he would never even approach their claws.
Yi Hyeok-su felt the weight of that truth.
He had to grow stronger than this.
He couldn’t be satisfied with the Enlightenment he’d gained this time alone.
He would run faster, fly higher.
‘But among them all, the greatest monster is…….’
Suddenly, Yi Hyeok-su’s gaze settled on the Seer—Park Chan-woo.
Even among those monsters, the Seer stood apart.
He still didn’t know what Sephiro was, or what the Seer’s true nature really was.
But one thing was certain: the Seer was a ‘heaven above heaven’—incomparable to any of them.
Even the Abyss’s absolute rules held no sway before him.
‘…Is he even human?’
A being so far outside the norm that he couldn’t be considered the same species.
Yi Hyeok-su was certain: he’d never seen a human like the Seer, and he never would again.
Nothing proceeded by common sense once he was involved.
This situation was no different.
‘Ataraxia. That great Mage fell to one knee without hesitation.’
The Mage who’d appeared from nowhere and attacked—Ataraxia.
The moment Park Chan-woo appeared, she dropped her tail and knelt.
And hadn’t she even begged him to kill her, claiming she deserved death?
Ataraxia’s attitude was unmistakably sincere.
She was atoning for her mistakes with absolute earnestness.
‘One word from the Seer saying he’d grown interested—and she wept like her heart would break.’
What baffled him most was Ataraxia’s reaction.
Ataraxia had called the Seer “Sephiro” with the highest honorific respect, while the Seer accepted it as natural and ordered her about like a subordinate.
But what came next was even more extraordinary.
At a single casual remark from the Seer:
—Your actions have piqued my curiosity.
—Ah……! It’s…… an honor!
……Ataraxia had trembled and descended into frenzied bliss.
It wasn’t false.
No act, no pretense.
Ataraxia followed the Seer with genuine devotion.
Not merely followed, but conducted herself as though in the presence of a god—as if she stood before the divine itself.
The Seer was ‘God’ incarnate.
—Leave everything to me, Great One.
By the end, she’d called him “Great One,” her eyes burning with sacred purpose.
What was it, really?
This name Sephiro, Ataraxia’s true nature, and this Black Witch—what were any of them?
He truly understood nothing at all…….
“Here it is.”
A voice broke through his reverie from beside him.
Yi Hyeok-su snapped back to awareness.
And beheld the vast palace before them.
“This is Khan’s Palace……, yes?”
“Hmm?”
Park Chan-woo tilted his head quizzically.
At last, they’d reached Khan’s Palace—standing at the end of the Path of Light.
The journey here had been remarkably smooth.
Ataraxia had handled all the obstacles that should have endlessly appeared.
Park Chan-woo’s quizzical tilt was entirely because of Yi Hyeok-su.
His manner of speaking had suddenly changed.
Not only had he switched to formal speech, but his entire bearing was wholly transformed from before.
“Yi Hyeok-su. Don’t be so stiff about it. Just do as you always have.”
“……I cannot do that.”
Yi Hyeok-su shook his head.
Miracle after miracle unfolding, one after another.
How could he treat as an equal a man who had taught him and even saved his life?
If the Seer had not stepped in, it would have been Yi Hyeok-su himself lying dead under Ataraxia’s magic.
He would never have gained Enlightenment.
He would never have had the chance to see his mother again, nor would he have realized his own recklessness and understood that he needed to strive harder.
‘The legendary Yi Hyeok-su……’
Park Chan-woo nearly laughed aloud at the thought.
The Sword King who had lived alone in the world.
This was the first time he had ever seen Yi Hyeok-su speak to anyone with such deference.
The Sword King had been utterly solitary.
He followed no one and kept no one at his side.
Naturally, he had never shown reverence toward another person.
Disillusioned with humanity and the world, he had maintained an unwavering cynical outlook.
And yet, of all people, his first object of respect turned out to be Park Chan-woo himself.
‘You really do learn something new if you live long enough.’
Park Chan-woo shook his head with a wry smile and stepped into the palace.
《’Khan’s Qualification’ has been confirmed.》
《You are accompanied by ‘Khan’s Knight’.》
《Entering ‘Khan’s Palace’.》
《’Khan’s Palace’ is a sealed space independent of the ‘Second Night’.》
《All ‘Watchers’ cannot observe ‘Khan’s Palace’.》
《Nor can the Creators, nor Aheta, the Lord of the Moon.》
……A sealed space, then.
It meant that neither the Creators nor even Aheta could locate Park Chan-woo and Yi Hyeok-su in this place.
‘An ancient being, Khan. Certainly no ordinary existence.’
Even in a sealed state, he could forge spaces like this.
Park Chan-woo felt an overwhelming curiosity about just how extraordinary this being truly was.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward into the palace.
And at that moment.
《’Warrior of Valhalla (Level 99)’ appears!》
《Fight and emerge victorious.》
A warrior clad in the Golden Helmet and Armor materialized before him.
A height reaching 2.5 meters.
A colossal spear of gleaming gold.
‘Level 99?’
For a moment, his mind reeled.
For a mere gatekeeper at the entrance, wasn’t that level impossibly high?
Realistically, the odds of defeating it in fair combat were nearly zero.
In an instant, the Warrior of Valhalla turned its gaze toward Park Chan-woo and Yi Hyeok-su and spoke.
“I ask: Are you the one who unsealed twenty seals and obtained ‘Khan’s Qualification’?”
“I am the one who obtained Khan’s Qualification.”
Park Chan-woo answered at once, and the Warrior of Valhalla tilted its head.
“You are too weak.”
“……”
“You do not possess ‘Khan’s Qualification.’ You are far too feeble to speak of such things. Cultivate the strength befitting the Qualification, and return another day.”
A clear refusal at the gate.
But he could not simply come back after growing strong enough.
Once the ‘Second Night’ ended, Aheta would have no reason to reveal this space again.
He had to resolve this within the time remaining.
Park Chan-woo’s mind raced.
An unresolved thread.
He recalled the messages that had appeared when he destroyed the twenty Shelters.
《You are granted ‘Challenger’s Key’.》
《Find the trace left behind by the ‘Ancient Being’ and open the door.》
《However, opening the door requires another one of your ‘Kindred’.》
He had not yet used the Challenger’s Key.
A key was meant to open doors.
However, when entering Khan’s Palace, the key was not required.
In other words, this key served a different purpose.
“You hardly possess the standing to question my qualifications.”
Park Chan-woo replied lightly.
He then produced the Challenger’s Key and held it up, letting it swing gently.
The key itself was the qualification.
No gatekeeper could determine his right to enter.
He already possessed the key that opened the door.
The door would open regardless of whether a gatekeeper stood before it.
The Warrior’s voice deepened.
“……You’re saying you’re confident you could defeat me in combat?”
A thick, suffocating killing intent flooded out.
“Gasp—!”
Yi Hyeok-su’s body trembled violently.
There was no way he could withstand the killing intent radiating from a Level 99 monster.
Yet by instinct, his body moved forward to shield Park Chan-woo.
If the Warrior of Valhalla attacked, he would resist with every ounce of strength he possessed.
Behind him, Park Chan-woo shook his head calmly.
“Stop. I’ve already won.”
“Won? We haven’t even fought.”
“You said I lacked the qualifications, yet I already possess them. That alone means I’ve already claimed victory, doesn’t it?”
“……So you think wordplay constitutes victory? That’s pathetic.”
Amusement flickered in the Warrior’s eyes.
Yet he couldn’t deny the logic.
‘The message said to fight and win—nowhere did it command me to strike him down through combat.’
Neither in the message nor in the Warrior’s words had there been any stipulation that victory must come through battle itself.
There are many forms of contest.
Combat is not the only kind—the clash of flesh and blood where life hangs in the balance.
Yet Khan’s Palace had guided them toward precisely such a confrontation.
It had set forth an overwhelmingly powerful adversary to intimidate, to make them surrender.
The goal had been to confound their minds and drive them away.
“Pathetic as it may be, that’s the correct answer. You show considerable courage. Most would panic, give up, or run.”
The Warrior stepped aside.
“Go. Pass through.”
The first gate had been crossed.
They had passed the trial.
It was a message: if you lack such courage and quick wit, don’t bother challenging at all.
Yet Park Chan-woo shook his head.
“I’m offering you another chance as well.”
“What? I told you to pass. Why are you saying this now?”
“You’ve been confined here for a long time, haven’t you? Letting us go like this seems such a waste. Don’t you think, Warrior?”
……
The Warrior of Valhalla fell silent.
He was a gatekeeper.
His was the face of one guarding the palace.
Yet he was also a warrior.
Sealed within the palace for ages, he’d never had the chance to display his might as a warrior should.
Now that Khan’s Palace had revealed itself to the world once more, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t burning with anticipation.
To fight.
To fight with every fiber of his being!
Park Chan-woo read that yearning clearly.
“I’m offering you the chance to engage us in a proper battle.”
“Can you handle me?”
Still, the Warrior hesitated.
Even from the corner of one’s eye, the disparity in power was unmistakable.
The magical force he sensed fell far short of his own.
A true fight would be decided in moments.
Park Chan-woo nodded.
“Of course, a direct confrontation would be difficult. But there’s a condition.”
“I’m listening.”
“Match our Level.”
Level matched, they would fight on equal footing.
The Warrior of Valhalla spoke with evident irritation.
“…Are you dismissing me now? Do you truly believe that if I lower my Level to your standard, you could actually defeat me?”
The Warrior understood the concept of Level well enough.
He had arrived marked as Level 99 from the beginning, after all.
Yet from his perspective, this request made no sense whatsoever.
Why would they insist on fighting him after already passing through?
He was the mighty Warrior of Valhalla.
Even with restrictions imposed, even with his Level reduced, the techniques honed through countless ages would not rust away.
He harbored no doubt that he could defeat a hundred monsters of his own Level.
Park Chan-woo shrugged.
“Seems like we’d win, naturally.”
“…If I win, you die here.”
“If we win instead, then you’ll serve not the Khan, but me, in this palace.”
“Very well. Good. If such a thing is possible, the Khan himself would understand.”
The Warrior nodded, almost pleased by the proposition.
It had been so long since a proper battle.
At last he could fulfill his role as gatekeeper.
What better circumstance could there be?
Matching Levels was a simple matter.
While raising Level forcibly was impossible, there were quite a few methods of Seal that could lower Level for a limited time.
Park Chan-woo spoke slowly.
“Then let us swear before the Oath’s Messenger. For this fight alone, we will match our Levels and engage fairly.”
“Nonsense. I’ll lower mine by ten Levels more than yours. Only then will this feel remotely like an even fight!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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